Conclave review: Ralph Fiennes is impeccable as the lead in this luxuriously directed papal thriller

“There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others: certainty.”

That line, delivered by the always reliable Ralph Fiennes, is the core of director Edward Berger’s excellent new papal thriller, Conclave.

I will risk damnation by committing that most dreaded sin and say that I am certain Conclave will satisfy those with a taste for intrigue and dangerous ambition within one of the world’s most powerful institutions.

It is a cinematic feast with masterful direction, impeccable acting, a gripping score and sumptuous visuals.

The Pope is dead and the Catholic Church’s cardinals must convene in the Vatican to select a successor from among their number. They will be sequestered away from the world and totally isolated until the next pontiff is chosen.

The task of presiding over this highly secretive ceremony falls to Cardinal Lawrence, played wonderfully by Ralph Fiennes.

The favourites to succeed the previous pope are Cardinals Bellini (Stanley Tucci) of the Vatican, Trembley of Montreal (John Lithgow), Tedesco of Venice (Sergio Castellitto) and Adeyemi of Nigeria (Lucian Msamati).

Lawrence, the front-runners and others are sealed away for the film’s duration with their own agendas, ambitions, schemes and dark secrets.

Conclave is director Edward Berger’s first outing since his much-lauded war epic, All Quiet on the Western Front, and it is a worthy successor.

Adapted from the Robert Harris novel of the same name, Conclave is a brilliantly directed political thriller.

Visually, the film is a treat – a tableau of papal crimson against the spotless white marble of the Sistine Chapel and the chilly blueish stone of the Vatican’s underbelly.

Writer Peter Straughan’s dialogue is gripping and (almost) always believable. The influence of his excellent work adapting Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall’s similarly paced and Machiavellian dialogue is felt throughout.

Fiennes is a stand-out, portraying Cardinal Lawrence as an intelligent and careful man who is struggling with his faith – both in God and the good intentions of his peers.

The English actor captures that doubt in his eyes, almost pleadingly troubled as he listens to the complaints and excuses of the other churchmen.

Fiennes also captures Lawrence’s growing ambition, and the moment he makes peace with his desire to lead is sublime.

Tucci’s Cardinal Bellini nails the sweet spot of an outwardly virtuous man in denial of his own ambition and vanity.

Lithgow’s Cardinal Temblay has all the traditional charm and pomposity of his turn as a crumbling Winston Churchill in The Crown.

One of the film’s more understated but vital performances is delivered by Isabella Rossellin, who plays Sister Agnes – the nun charged with running the cardinals’ residences while they are secluded.

Sister Agnes is a quiet observer throughout the various machinations and schemes of the ambitious Cardinals.

Rossellin’s presence is reminiscent of Anna Paquin in Scorsese’s The Irishman, the silent daughter whose accusing stare became a constant moral check on the characters and we the audience for delighting in their deeds.

Volker Bertelmann’s score further elevates the film’s other elements, punctuating the dialogue with violent, stabbing strings. In more sedate moments, the strings convert to unsettling, queasy undulations. It truly embodies the tense malaise of ambition and mistrust suffocating the Conclave.

Maintaining that potent undercurrent throughout is a major achievement from Bertelmann, the cast and Berger.

However, after such well executed build-up, Conclave’s ending feels somewhat confused.

On the one hand, there is a rather obvious twist, heralded by some disappointingly banal moral grandstanding.

On the other hand, there is a genuinely surprising further twist. The sappiness mostly dissipates and the film ends on an outrageous but thought-provoking cliffhanger.

The conclusion will prove divisive and will no doubt generate some furious reaction.

It could be argued the conclusion is a cheap twist for shock value.

Alternatively, it could also be said to effectively tie-in to the film’s deeper themes.

Perhaps it’s best not to be certain just yet.

Regardless, Conclave is an thoroughly entertaining thriller that is well worth the time it asks of the audience.